Protecting sheath for electric wires



July 7, 1931. J ESCOL 1,813,039

PROTECTING SHEATH FOR ELECTRIC WIRES Filed March 27; 1930 Patented July 7, 1931 UNITED STATES JULES ESCOL, OI CHATELET, BELGIUM rnorncrme. snmrn roa ELECTRIC wrans Application filed March 27, 1930, Serial No. 439,509, and in- Belgium March 27, 1929.

The object of this invention is a rigid sheath for the mechanical protection of electric wires, constructed in such a manner that it may be easily bent or curved by hand notwithstanding the rigidity of its side walls.

To this end, transverse notches are pro-- vided in the four sides of this sheath which is made of substantially rectangular cross section, and the arrangement is such that the notches in two opposite sides of the sheath face each other and are about half-way between the notches in the two remainin sides. With such an arrangement of the notches the sheath ma be curved or bent edgewise or flatwise, without the hel of any tool.

The sheath is made 0 a continuous metal band bent lengthwise. Its longitudinal joint is preferably closed by clasping and may be made tight by double 'clasping and/or by 2o welding. The sheath may enclose one or more electric wires according to its size.

The accompanying drawings show by way of example a sheath with two conductors therein. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a section of a sheath both in side and top view, on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the sheath, also on an enlarged scale, and

' Figs. 3 and 4 show, in actual size, two sections of a sheath curved flatwise and edgewise respectively.

The sheath 1 is made from a com aratively rigid continuous metal band, pre erably of electrolytic zinc, which is bent four times at right angles along its length so as to form around the electric wires 2 a protecting covering, substantially rectangular in cross-section'. The 'edges of the metal band are clasped together at 1 on one side of the 40 sheath, thereby forming along said side a continuous joint which may be welded if desired to secure absolute tightness.

In this way a cheap and light sheath is obtained wherein the wires 2 are effectively protected against blows and other mechanical actions by t e rigid metal of which it is made. In order that this sheath may be easily bent by hand, notches are made across its four sides, in order to enable the metal to be deformed wit out breaking when the sheath inverted.

is being curved. The notches 3 in the two large sides of the sheath, as well as the notches 3 in the small sides of the sheath are exactly opposite each other, but these notches 3 and 3 are alternated so as to be about halfway from each other as shown in Fig. 1.

In this way the sheath can readily be bent or curved fiat-or crosswise. When the sheath is curved fiatwise, the notches 3 situated in the small side of the sheath towards the outside of the curve are stretched thus providing for the increase in length of that side, whereas. the small side of the sheath which is the inside of the curve is bent in a bellows-like manner, and the notches 3 in the large sides vanish towards the outside and get marked more deeply towards the inside of the curve as shown in Fig. 3'. When the sheath is curved edgewise (Fig. 4), the same deformation takes place, but the way in which the notches 3 and .3 respectively behave is It will be understood that more or'less than two electricwires may be enclosed in the sheath and the latter may be subjected to various modifications of its details without departin from the present invention as de 0' fined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination with an insulated electric conductor, a continuous protecting sheath enclosing said conductor throughout its len h, said sheath being made of a rigid metal aving a polygonal cross-section with an even number of sides, said sides having transverse notches therein, the notches in diametrically opposite sides facing each other.

2. In combination with an insulated electric conductor, a continuous protectingsheath enclosing said conductor throughout its length, said sheath being made of a rigid metal and having a rectangularcross section,

the sides of said sheath having transverse notches therein, the notches in two opposite sides facing each other and being located half way between the notches in the other two sides." I

3. In combination with an insulated electric conductor, a continuous protecting sheath enclosing said conductor throughout its length, said sheath being made of a strip of ri 'd metal bent to rectangular shape, the si s of said sheath having transverse notches therein, the notches in two opposite sides fac- 5 ing each other and alternating with the notches in the other two sides.

4. In combination with an insulated electric conductor, a continuous protecting sheath enclosingsaidconductorthroughoutits length, said sheath being made of a strip of rigid metal bent to rectangular shape, the longitudinal edges of said sheath bein united by clasping, two opposite sides of sai sheath having transverse notches facing each other, the other sides of said sheath having transverse notches facing each other at mid-distance between the first mentioned notches.

In testimony whereof I affix my si ature. 1 JULES E COL. 

